SWAMPSCOTT — The Police Department was formally recognized by the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission as one of the 122 fully accredited police agencies throughout the state. This recognition reflects the department’s efforts to attain the best practices, procedures, and policies in law enforcement.
The MPAC officially recognized the department on Oct. 29 during an award presentation at the Marlborough Country Club.
According to MPAC, accreditation is a self-initiated process by which police agencies voluntarily strive to meet and maintain standards that have been established for the law enforcement profession by the profession.
The process begins with an internal assessment by the police agency to determine that it is compliant with the program’s standards. Then, it entails being reviewed by MPAC-appointed assessors.
The program also works to establish “standards on best practices for police agencies to adopt,” which then requires police agencies to establish “written directives and procedures for their personnel to implement.”
Accreditation from MPAC means:
- The department is committed to meeting professional standards.
- The department is willing to be assessed on a regularly scheduled basis by MPAC-appointed assessors to confirm compliance with professional standards; and
- The department also agrees to correct any potential deficiencies discovered during the assessment process to establish or re-establish compliance with program standards.
Police Chief Ruben Quesada noted that it was a true team effort, citing the help from the members of the department’s accreditation team: Sgt. Matt MacDonald, Sgt. Steven Luck, Sgt. Brendan Reen, and Capt. Joe Kable.
“I think the best way to describe this effort is that accreditation alone could take one full-time employee working 40 hours at least six months to complete… This work was done through a true team effort with special thanks to our accreditation manager, Sgt MacDonald, who got us started on the right footing,” Quesada said.
Quesada highlighted that the recognition was important to him because it meant putting in the work to earn the achievement, a goal that he knew the department could reach.
“The reason why it’s so important to me is this award is much more than just empty words stating that our policies and procedures match best practices and national standards,” Quesada said. “We had to show and prove to an independent, outside organization that our actions meet our words.”
Out of the 351 communities of cities and towns that comprise the state, Quesada reiterated that only 122 have met the “gold standard.”
“We owe this standard of professionalism to our beloved community to be the kind of world class policing organization they rightfully deserve,” Quesada said.
